. Houses for town or country. land-scape design is partly due to the artificial point ofview toward country life that takes it as a Saturday-to-Monday variety-show; and it is partly due to theinexperience of American architects in this branchof design. They fully intend to tie their houses wellinto the landscape, and give the immediate and natu-ral surroundings of the house a pleasurable andhabitable form; but they have to contend with manydifficulties. The American landscape, even in theolder parts of the country, is generally unkempt, anddoes not lend itself as readily to formal treatment as
. Houses for town or country. land-scape design is partly due to the artificial point ofview toward country life that takes it as a Saturday-to-Monday variety-show; and it is partly due to theinexperience of American architects in this branchof design. They fully intend to tie their houses wellinto the landscape, and give the immediate and natu-ral surroundings of the house a pleasurable andhabitable form; but they have to contend with manydifficulties. The American landscape, even in theolder parts of the country, is generally unkempt, anddoes not lend itself as readily to formal treatment asdoes the typical English or Continental owners of the big estates rarely appreciate thescale on which the landscape architecture should belaid out, and the patience necessary to obtain a com-plete and consummate effect. They want ready-made estates. Finally the leading American housearchitects have, with a few exceptions, a good dealto learn about the technique of landscape design. 70 THE AMERICAN COUNTRY ESTATE. A GARDEN PATH So far as the large house itself is concerned, a con-vention has been established which is in the main agood one, but the designing of gardens is still in an 71 HOUSES FOR TOWN OR COUNTRY early experimental stage. The stage properties arecollected in abundance. There is no lack of per-golas, fountains, well-heads, gazebos, statuary, andpottery; but as like as not they are indiscriminatelyplaced. The architectural features, are, however,generally somewhat better managed than the plant-ing, which frequently looks as if an Irish gar-dener had been given some vague general direc-tions, or as if the lady of the house had consideredthat it was a womans business to make the gardengreen. As a matter of fact, however, the lady ofthe house, in case she has her own way, generallypaints the garden yellow and red rather than idea usually is merely to get as much bloom aspossible; and this she does at a sacrifice of thosemasses of foliage which
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